Is Apu racist? Trevor Noah discusses a thorny issue from The Simpsons [video]

Oh boy, this one's going to divide opinion.

This discussion with Trevor Noah is going to hurt Simpsons fans. But much-loved character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is facing accusations of being a “racist stereotype”.

Noah was joined by comedian and writer Hari Kondabolu. He produced a successful documentary in 2017 called “The Problem With Apu“. In his inquiry, Kondabolu hits out at the Springfield resident for being a very questionable representation of Indian people in America.

Like most 90s sitcoms, the show is facing criticism from millennials. A furore has been bubbling up for the last few months, but it all came to a head when The Simpsons actually addressed the issue head-on, during Sunday’s latest episode:

The episode “No Good Read Goes Unpunished” – which centred around Marge editing a character in Lisa’s book to make her more politically correct – drew ire from crowds on Twitter, who didn’t agree with the writers’ stance.

Kondabolu appeared on The Daily Show on Monday evening to explain why he feels the character is outdated and causes offence:

“[Indian people] weren’t really allowed a voice back then. There was this huge gap between who we were, and what our experiences are like. When your only image is of a cartoon character voiced by a white guy, you realise it’s just effectively a white person in brown paint.”

“The problem is representation: At the height of Apu’s popularity, Indians only had two representations on TV: A convenience store guy, and terrorists. There is a huge range of humanity between those two points.”

Noah also probed his guest on what other people of Indian origin think of Apu. He highlighted that Twitter users on Hari’s page would often defend the character. Kondabolu accepts Apu is funny, but maintains there’s a “messed up message” behind what the character represents.